Is Facebook privacy the real concern, and what's the value proposition of social media networks?
I was a panelist at the June 8 meeting of the Social Media Club South Florida. The panel discussion, led by addventures' Angie Moncada, centered around Facebook's privacy policy changes, but really that was just a springboard for a broader discussion of the expectations people should have about their own online privacy and the responsibility of the social media companies that store personal data.
From my perspective, choosing to share personal information on Facebook or Twitter is part of the value proposition you're faced with when you join these social media networks. You give up a portion of your privacy in return for the connectivity that these networks give you. Matt Chamberlin, who sat next to me during the panel discussion, said it best when he rightly pointed out that the trouble comes when companies change the rules midstream, which is exactly what Facebook has done several times during the last year. The Miami Herald's Niala Boodhoo, too, suggested that Facebook could do, and should have, done a better job of making it easier for people to navigate the arcane, multi-level privacy settings the company recently revamped.
The real concern I have with social media networks isn't so much whether companies are sharing my information with advertisers who want to show me context-driven ads, but whether those networks are doing enough to police fraud and identity theft (or forgery, which is damaging and much more rampant) and the damaging effects of malware. My fellow panelist Gary Bahadur spoke up about that last night, but most of the discussion centered around Facebook and passions ran hot at times as people were taking strong positions about personal responsibility versus corporate responsibility, and social media citizenry.
Below is a video of the panel discussion. It's worth a look-see.